


Her Favorite

by Ellimac



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Polyamory Negotiations, episode: we need to talk, kind of, mostly Pearl/Rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 01:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellimac/pseuds/Ellimac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After spending an evening out with Mr. Universe, Rose has a very important talk with Pearl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Favorite

Rose returned to the temple late that evening, still giggling to herself. Garnet was just walking up behind her when Amethyst tumbled out from behind a rock.

“Oh, man!” she said, laughing. “He really thought he could fuse with you? That’s _hilarious_.”

Rose smiled. “He doesn’t know anything about gems, or fusion,” she said. “After he saw Rainbow Quartz, it’s not surprising he’d want to give it a try.” She looked around, then grinned a little. “But it is pretty funny.”

Garnet shook her head. “He had no way of knowing. Besides, it got you two closer, didn’t it?”

Rose shook her head, still smiling. “That’s true. Have you two seen Pearl?”

“Huh? Oh, she ran off after a while,” Amethyst said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I think she’s in her room.”

Rose’s face fell. “Oh, no…”

She glanced at Garnet, whose face was impassive. Garnet shrugged. “You should probably go to her.”

Rose didn’t need telling twice. Ignoring the stare of Amethyst, she ran across to the door and knocked gently.

“Pearl?” she called. “It’s Rose. Can I come in?”

There was no response. Rose sighed. “I’m coming in, Pearl.”

The gem for Pearl’s room glowed, and the door opened for her. So Pearl wasn’t so upset that she didn’t want to see Rose at all, at least. That was a good sign.

What was less of a good sign was that she found Pearl curled up in the center of the room, glaring at nothing and sniffling. When she saw Rose, she turned away.

“Why are you even here?” Pearl said. “Don’t you want to spend more time with your Mr. Universe?”

“He’s human,” Rose said. “He has to sleep.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Pearl shuddered, and when she spoke, her tone was heavy with anger. “So that’s the only reason you’re not spending _all_ your time with him? Because he has to _sleep_? Well, I guess I should count myself lucky that there are a few hours in the day when you’ll still bother with me.”

Rose winced. “Pearl, that’s not what I—”

“Oh, but you’d better hurry,” Pearl went on, her voice savage and sarcastic. “He might wake up at any moment! You don’t want to miss a single second with _your_ Mr. Universe, do you?”

“Pearl, I—”

“Why are you still here? Don’t you have better things to do than to spend time with me? Oh, I’ve only loved you for millennia, but that’s okay, Mr. Universe has loved you for months already, if you hurry maybe you can even get a few decades—”

“Pearl, that’s enough.”

Pearl flinched. Contrary to her firm tone, Rose felt like crying. She had never meant for things to turn out like this, and now her Pearl thought she didn’t care about her anymore.

Cautiously, Rose approached her. She stayed a few feet away and knelt down, but Pearl didn’t face her.

“Pearl,” Rose said softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt this way.”

Pearl made a disbelieving sound, and Rose closed her eyes.

“I haven’t been paying enough attention. I’ve been… swept up in the rush. That doesn’t mean I don’t still love you.”

Pearl sniffled. “You haven’t been great at showing it lately.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose said again. “I know I’ve been spending a lot of time with Greg, at the expense of time with you. But…”

“Do you love him?”

Rose hesitated. “Yes, I think so.”

Pearl curled up tighter, pressing her knees up to her nose. “But he’s only a _human_.”

Rose sat back, staring at the ceiling. “Oh, Pearl… human lives are short, but they’re so… so complicated. They’re all so different from us, and from each other. I don’t think there’s anything ‘only’ about it.”

There was a long silence. Finally, Pearl said in a quiet voice, “You love him more than you ever loved me.”

Rose sat up. “No! Of course not. How could I?”

“But you do _love_ him,” Pearl insisted.

“I can love more than one person at once,” Rose said. She reached for Pearl, but hesitated before she touched her. “I thought… I never thought you could doubt that I love you. Not after everything we’ve been through together.” She settled her hand onto Pearl’s shoulder, and to her relief, Pearl didn’t pull away.

“He’s not even that interesting,” Pearl muttered, and Rose let out a soft laugh.

“Are you saying that because you truly believe it, or because you think he doesn’t deserve me?”

Pearl muttered something that sounded like “both.” Rose leaned a little closer.

“Pearl,” she murmured. “Will you look at me, please?”

Reluctantly, Pearl turned to face her. It was clear that she had been crying, and equally clear that she didn’t want Rose to know. Rose reached up and wiped a stray tear off Pearl’s cheek with her thumb.

“I love you,” Rose said, looking her directly in the eye. “Nothing that anyone says or does can change that. I know that I’ve been spending less time with you lately, but that doesn’t mean I love you any less.” Her hand slid down Pearl’s face until it settled under her chin. “After all, look at Rainbow Quartz.”

Pearl blushed. It was true, and had long been true, that Rainbow Quartz was a very stable fusion. She couldn’t be so without both of their love.

“I love you,” Pearl said. She reached up to touch Rose’s face, but flinched back. Rose took her hand and set it against her cheek with a small smile, and Pearl looked down as if embarrassed. “I…”

Rose tilted her chin up gently and gave her a soft kiss. “I know you do. And I hope you know that I love you, too. I hope that I never give you cause to doubt it again.”

Pearl looked up at her. “But what about Greg?”

“Well… I’ll still be spending time with him,” Rose said. “But I’ll try to keep spending time with you, too.”

“It felt like you were replacing me,” Pearl said, and a fresh tear slipped down her cheek. Rose wiped it away.

“I could never replace you,” she said firmly. “Not with Greg, or with anyone else. You’re far too special to me.”

This, it seemed, was what Pearl had wanted to hear all along. She began to tear up, and wrapped her arms around Rose, burying her face in her shoulder. She was shaking. Rose closed her eyes.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Pearl said, her voice muffled.

Rose pet a hand over her hair. “You won’t, my Pearl. My love.”

They sat like that for a while, silent except for Pearl’s muffled sobs. Rose pressed her lips to the top of Pearl’s head. Eventually, Pearl drew away, keeping her hands on Rose’s sides.

“Are you okay?” Rose said softly.

Pearl nodded and wiped her eyes on her arm. “I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want to fuse?” Rose offered. “If you think it’ll help you feel better…”

Pearl hesitated, then nodded again. “I… I’d like that a lot, Rose. Thank you.”

Rose smiled at her. After a moment, Pearl smiled back.

\--

Outside, Garnet smiled too, as the future suddenly cleared.

“Everything’s going to be all right,” she said.


End file.
